Strip-feeding mechanism.



W. fH. BAZLEY. STRI-1D I'EEDING MEGHANISM. APPLIOATION FILED APR. 25,1911.

Patented Mar. 5, 1912.

Zw/062225024' @Mmm y@ (397% y am, @WDM .gtneky W. H. BAZLEY.

STRIP FEEDING MBGHANISM.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 25, 1911.

1,019,295. Patented M1115, 1912.

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Ztnessesx I A Z5/ventana @m1 fw www vf@ [3Q/X@ w; H. BAZLEY. STRIPFEEDING MEGHANISM'" APPLIOATION FILED' APB.. Z5, 1911.

Patented Mar. 5, 1912.

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To all whom it may concern:

UNITED. iOL'FFICEf wIiiLiaiu n; BAzLEY, or Evniu'ir'i, MASSACHUSETTS,A's'sreiroa *i'oirLYmoN mm i rncrunme c'oMPaNY, or nos'roN,uassaciiusn'rrs, 'A conron'arioir ory STRIP-Emili@ Mmmm. i

' .miniemen inea april a5, ien. serial-iro. 623,319.

'Specification of Letter'slateiiti- I h5, v1.912,

.Be it known that I, WILLIAM Baziiar,

a citizen -of the United States, residing at Everett, in the county ofMiddlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Strip-Feeding Mechanisms, of which the followingisv a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanyingdrawings. c

In machines of various kinds operating. upon sheet-material in a stripof appreciable Y length, such as is'called in general terms, a

continuous strip, and employing feed-rolls for advancing lthe stri forthe purpose. of being operated'upon, t ere often is ex erienced a markedtendency on the part o they strip to work edgewise toward one sideor theother of the desired'path. ,Various arrangements of edge-guides havebeen employed for the purpose of keepingthe strip in its proper path, bt they are not always effective, and the same is true with respect toother means intended to prevent the strip from swerving. In classes ofWork requiring accuracy of register in' the case of the strip, lateralswerving of-the latter results in bad and imperfect work and consequentloss. The crowding of an edge of the strip against a lateral guidecrushes or breaks such edge in the case of some materials,lsuch as,paper, and also causes cutting of the guide. Sometimes jamming of thestrip .and clogging of the machine occur, with V breakage of the-stripin some cases. Hence,

stoppages of the machine are occasioned, and time is lost while thetrouble is being rectified, the 'output of the machinebeing considerablyreduced thereby. I have in 'practice experienced these difficulties inthe lfeeding of strips of paper, and similar diiiicultiesinthe eeding'ofstripscof: sheet- The general objects of my invention are to overcomethe tendency aforesaid, and to obviate the difficulties,vinconveniencies', and

loss resulting therefrom, while at the same time my aim is'to attaintheseobjects -i'nan entirely simple and practical manner.

s The invention consists, essentially, int-he combination withfeedfrolls,` of means for periodically varying vthe distance between theaxes of the rolls to thereby release the strip which is passing betweentheir," peripheries for brief intervals from theA grasp and control ofthe-feed-rolls. The temporary release of stripallowsit'to edgewise backto 'its normal path-whenever itshalll have become diverted therefrom,the

normal path being that` whicliis determined bythe means designed to`control andguide the strip asit is fed *along .Infmiy maA es are chinesalread inl use special side-gui provided'to etermiiie such path 'Invsome machines, the parts which operate upon thev strip" possess thecapacity o r function o'f edgejguides, in additionA to other specialcapacity or function, and Vtherefore consti# tute edge-guiding means.In'either case, it

`being assumed that -inyinvention .is Aembodied in a given machine, ifthestri'p which. is being operated u n in such machine worksedgewiseineit er direetion'while the feed-rolls' are closed together androtatingto feed the s trip,.so as thereby to create an edgewise tensionin the strip, the movingapart off the axes of the feedfro11s,withitsattend'antrelief of the grasp ofthe vfeedrolls upon the strip, leavesthe stri to readjust itself, which it iminediatei; do, recovering itsnormal path A-'machin'e having applied thereto anv em- It will of coursel'be understood that the.

freeA will' Abodiinent of my invention 'willoperate with?" .outinterruption from lateral swerving of temporary release of the stripbythe movin fartherA apart of the axes of the feed.

ro ls is so timed that it will not interfere 'with the special functionsof the machine.'

l Theprinci'ples o f the invention may be embodied in-a variety of ways.The draw? ings show one mode Vof applying the said rinciples inconnection wit which the feed in intermittent, andl al-sopoi'ie mode ofapplying them in connection withcontinuous y-operatin feed-rolls.

In the drawings, ligure 1 shows certain portions of a machinel employinyfeed-rolls which are rotated .intermitting y, andl an embodiment oftheiprinciples of the invention applied in connection with suchfeedrolls, the parts bein viewed -from'one side of the machine, anycertain portions bein broken away. Fig'. 2: Shows the partso Fig.` 1lviewed from the left-hand side in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan ofethe saidparts. Fig. 4 a view in section in theplane of line 4, '4,' of Figs. 2and. Fi 5,4 Sheet 1,

'is a 4plan viewA of the feed-ro separating and its'transversely-projecting 110 a machine inv as I' neousl'y, thefeed-rolls, printing or emboss- ATin. Fig,` is a sideview of the saidrock-` shaft. Fl'g. 7j 1s a view 1nsection on line 7, 7,` o fFigs. 5 and6. Fig. 8 is 1a sideview of ,an embodiment of the invention inconnection with continuously rotating feedrolls. Fig. 9 is a yplan oftheparts shown in f Fig. 8,`the guides between the two pairs offeed-rolls being omitted.

Having reference to the drawings,-The .machine fofLFigs. 1 to 7 is`constructed to v feed along a strip `a`of material, print or `embossthe same at intervals, and-'punch `.therefrom disk-,shaped portionsbearing the imprints. A machine ofthe type of that partlyshown inthesaid gures 1s adapted for the production of articles of various n kinds.I have utilized'the said machine in -t-he manufacture of disk-shapedbottle-stop- ,cooperation with .the punch, a stationary iWork-support 8which sup orts the strip* pers of paper'materials.V It comprises in-itsfConstruction, among other parts and fea- :y tures unnecessary to beillustrated and dewhile being acted upon by he printing or embossingdies 5,. 5, a strip-.conducting guide `9 extending from the feed-rollsto the printv ing or'embossing devices, and yielding edgeguides'lO, .10,10, Fig. 1. The machine is built jto.op era te upon-two stripssimultaingv dies, punch -and die, strip-guide, `andyielding.edge-guides, being duplicated at thel opposite sides thereof,'as shown. The 4'0 of the,` machine are fixed upon a shafta,

lower feed-rolls, 3, 3, at the respective sides which-extendstransversely of the machine and is mounted in bearing-stands, 3b, 3",proin the said bearing-stands'. The upperfeedvrolls are pressed withyielding forcetoward :the lower feed-rolls by meansof expanding ybetween l} lates Qd-and'the said boxes, the

A -je'cting'froin the stationary machine-frame. 945

*.ash'aft 22,',which 'at its oppositeends 1s .The upper feed-rolls2, 2,are mounted upon mounted in boxes 2"2, itted inguideways spiral springs2, the latter being confined said plates being`engaged byfadjustingscrews 2e, 2e, working in threaded holes that are tapped-in the caps 2f,2f, of the said :guideways By turning the said adjusting screwsthetension` of the springs, and the Aforce with which the -upperfeed-rolls are pressed toward the lower feed-rolls, may be 2g, toprevent accidental loss of adjustment..

`varied in well-known manner. The adjusting'l screws are furnished wlthlock-nuts 2g,

.The feed-rolls are operatedA tofeed the strip a by means o'f a'swinging armic and intermittent clutch-devices of anyisuitable' chareachother.

acter. The said arm is mounted to swing concentrically with the shaft 3,and the clutch-devices referred to include the disk or wheel 3d fast onthe said shaft. Swinging movement is imparted to. -the said arm 8 at theproper times in the working of the machine through suitable actuatingconnections including a motion-transmitting link 3e, Fig. 2, which ispivotally engaged with the said arm at 3f. In consequence of suchswingingmovement of the arm, the clutchdevices rotate the shaft 3 andlower feedroll, and the upper feed-roll is rotated from the lower one.vIn thepresent instance the two feed-rolls of a pair are geared togetherby means of spur-gears 2", 3X', meshing with The feeding movement of thefeed-rolls takes place at a time while. the head 4 is elevated. Suchmovement operates to advance the strip (1. through the strip-conductingguide 9, and over the work-support 8 and die 7. .The strip-conductingguide 9 is ,U-shapedin cross-section, its bend constitutinga back ,orlinner edge-guide for the strip a, toward and against which the strip is'pressed through tlie engagement of the yielding edge-guides 10, 10, withthe front orouter edge of the strip. The acting portions of the saidyielding edge-guides 10,

10, being pressed outward somewhat beyond their normal position bythewidth of the strip, their tendency to return to their' normalposition causes them to press against -the outer or front edge of thestrip so as to bear the strip widthwise against the bend of theconducting guide, and againstthe lip 9, Fig. et, at the innen edge ofthe work-support, constituting acontinnation of the bend of theconducting guide.

In the operation-of the, Darts thus far described, the strip is fed stepby step to the printing or embossing dies and the punch. and diemI Theextent of each feed movement is s uicient to feed successive portions ofthe strip a first td'the'l'irst printing or embossing die, thenV to thesecond, and then' to the punch vand die, which last punch outy in theform of a disk each portion which has been operated upon by the twoprinting or 'embossing diesin succession.'

The parts thus far described, are not in themselves of the gistv of thepresent invention.

Referringnow more particularlyto the .invention itself and theembodiment of the same which isshown in Figs. 1*to 7, 11 is a smallrocksh'aft which is mounted in bearings formed in the upright portion'of a bearing-stand 3b. This rockshaft is located below the' .box2".which is contained Within the guideway ofI such bearing-stand. It isformed with a cam-portion 11a. In the present instance the saidcam-portion is produced by slabbingY titfor, cutting away theintermediate portion of the length of the rocks'haft, namely thatportion which is immediately lneneathA the box. A wear-plate 11", Fig. 1is placed between the box and the cam-'portion 1 1". Normally therockshaft occupies a position in which the depressed surface of the vcutaway portion thereof is presented to the wear-plate land box 2",permitting the box toassume .its lowest position under. the 4action ofthe `spring 2 and the upper feed-roll to press the strip a against thelowerfeed-roll, so that the strip is gripped between the feed-rolls andwhen movement is given to the feed-rolls itis fed forward thereby.

A turning movement of the rockshaft will cause theeccentrically-disposed port-ion or cam of the rockshaft to act againstthe .wear- 11" extending transversely therefrom, and

plate ait the under side of the box 2" to raise the latter and theshaft2* and feed-roll 2, separating the feed-rolls so as to relieve the graspor biteof the latter upon'the strip a, leaving it free to readjustitself to its' normal path in case ithas swerved therefrom.

The rocking movement of the rockshaft 11 is provided forin the. resentinstance by furnishing the said roc shaftwith a pin mounting a striker11c upon the head 4. The pressure of the box 2* against the camportion o'therockshaft 11 tends to @ook the said rockshaft until the fiat face ofthe same and the bot-toni .of the box are parallel and in contact. Thisholds the said pin in horizontal position.4 The striker-piece 11 'isfixed to the head 4 in such position that as the head descends itstrikes against the said-pin, pressing the latter down and rockl "ingthe rockshaft so that the feed-rolls are separated from each other inthe manner already described. The extent ofthe separating movement isvery small, being merely suiiicient to release the grasp of thefeed-rolls upon the strip a., and notgreat enough to take the 'teeth ofthe spur-gears 2", 3", out of mesh withy one another. As-

the head 4 rises, relieving the pressure of the striker against the pin1.1",- the roc-kshaft is permitted to turn reversely under the pressureof the spring 2, transmitted through box 2b and wear-plate 2d,and'acting against an eccentric portion of the rockshaft I 11. Thisreverse turning of the rockshaft allows the upper feed-roll to closedown upon the strip a, and also restores the said construction shown inF igs. l, 2, 3 and 4, the roll-separating devices are duplicated incomection 'with the respective pairs of feedro ls.

In the mechanism illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, the strip a passesthrough twopairs of continuously-rotating feed-rolls 21, 31, and 22, 32,on itsV way to the fixed guide 9. The upper and lower rolls of each ofthe spur-gears 2", 3",

In the said parts are geared together by 'means of and the rolls areactuated from a rotating shaft 13 by means of a sprocket-wheel 13?Lfixedfon said shaft, a

sprocket-chain 13" *passing around said sprocket-wheel'and also around asprocket- Wheel 13' fixed Ion the shaft 21a of one of the upperfeed-rolls, a second sprocketwheel 13d i'xed on the latter shaft, and asprocket-chain 13'? passing` around such sprocket-wheel and also around'a sprocket-4 wheel 13 ixedonthe shatt'21a of the other upperfeed-roll... `Separating.movement .of

the'eed-rolls of each pair, for the purposes of the invention, providedfor by mountingthe shafts 31@323 of the lower feedrolls invertically-movable boxes 31", 32", which are acted upon by springstending to 'press the lower l feedrolls toward Vand against the upperfeed-rolls. -The respec.v

tive pairs of' feed-rolls are alternately,

opened or separated for the said purposes, by meansl of rockers 31232?,which are pivoted'at 31d, 31d, and 32d, 32, and a rotating 'cam 32ehaving a prominent'portion or nose which engages `.the rochersalternately. The

said cam is fixed upon an upright shaft 32 that is geared by bevelgear-wheels 32K, 32g, to the shaft 13. *.As the projection or nose actsupon each of the rockers in turn, it rocks the rocker s as to depressthe boxes of the corresponding lower feed-roll against the resistanceof4 their springs, to thereby separate the -corresponding pair offeedrolls. As the projection or'nose passes out of engagement `{vit-h arocker, the said springs press 'the said boxes, the lower feedroll, andthe rockerbackinto their former positions. In the operation of a machinehaving `this embodiment of the invention applied thereto, the openingapartof the pair of feed-rolls next to the guide 9 permits any edgewisetension which may have been developed inthe strip-to act to spring thestrip edgewise toward its normal path, the action taking place betweenthe edgeguides of the machine and extending as far as to the outer pairof feed-rolls which are still closed together. When the pair offeed-rolls which were thus opened apart are closed together and theother pair are' opened apart, the self-adjusting act-ion of the strip ispermitted tot'ake place between the pair first mentioned and the sourceof supply. Between the two pairs of feed-rolls upper and lowerconducting guides 33, 34, are located, between which the strip passes,

and by which it is controlled vertically..

These gliides are omitted from Fig. 9.

I claim as mv invention:

1. In strip .eding mechanism, the combination wit feed-rolls whichadvance a strip of mat al, and means actin to conne said str within agiven pa widthwise and pr loo .ucing lateral tension in the stripadjacenttlie rolls in case of lateral divergence 'of thel strip from thesaid path, of means for periodically varying the distance 7between theaxes of the rolls and thereby 5 releasing the strip from the bite of theroll,

whereby .said tension is permitted to restore the strip to itsproper'path.

2. Instrip-feeding'mechanism, the com- `bination With feed-rolls whichadvance a 10 strip of material, and edge-guides act-ing t0 conine saidstrip within a given path Width- Wise and producing lateral tension inthe strip adjacent the rolls in case of lateral divergence of the st-ripfrom the said path, of

15 means for periodically varying the distance 3. In strip-feedingmechanism, the combination with feed-rolls which advance a strip oflmaterial, and sprin -actuated edgeguides acting to confine sai stripWithin a given path; Widthwise and producing lateral tension in thestrip adjacent the rolls in case of lateral divergence of the strip fromthesaid path, of means for periodically Varying the distance between theaxes of the rolls and thereby releasing the strip from the bite oftherolls, whereby said tension is permitted to restore the strip to itsproper path. l

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses. A

- `WILLIAM H. BAIZLEY. Vl/'itnessesr` CHAS. F. RANDALL,

NATHAN B. DAY.

